Many types of eye masks, pillows and compresses have been developed to cover a user's eyes to aid in sleeping as well as apply pressure on the user's face for therapeutic effect.
Eye masks were developed to keep light out while the user rested or slept. They are designed to be lightweight and non cumbersome. Due to their lightweight construction, a strap can effectively be used to keep them secure while the user sits or lies down.
Eye pillows were developed to block out light, but also provide additional therapeutic benefits. A single eye pillow is generally rectangular or oval in shape, much heavier than eye masks, and spans over and provides weighted coverage on the forehead, cheeks, eyes, nose and temple area.
Eye pillows can be made of a pliable material and filled with a particulate material such as flax seed. The pillows can be heated or cooled to provide the desired effect when laid across the user's face while the user is on their back. Due to their heavy weighted coverage, the user must remain in a stationary position on their back to prevent the pillow from falling off. Alternately, a head strap can be used to keep the pillow on the user in a sleeping or sitting position, but such a strap is largely unsuccessful. Herbal mixtures can be added to the pillows to provide aroma therapy for increased states of relaxation and pain relief. Eye pillows are generally used for short naps, relaxation times and during therapeutic bodywork sessions while the user lies stationary on their back. However, it must be removed when the therapist works on the user's face or turns the user on their side or stomach.
One drawback to conventional eye pillows is that they fail to provide even pressure distribution around the eye because they leave a gap around the eye socket thereby causing an unbalance feeling on the part of the user. Most of the pressure is applied on the forehead, nose bridge, cheeks and/or temples, with very little pressure applied inside the eye socket. There are a number of accu-pressure points that exist around the eye socket. It has been found that evenly distributed pressure applied to these accu-pressure points increases the beneficial treatments of eye strain, headaches, sinus problems, and cosmetic problems such as puffy eyes and dark circles. Such pressure also increases circulation and creates a soothing and comforting effect on the user. Evenly applied pressure on the eyelid itself can also be quite soothing as well as successfully alleviating certain types of headaches. These pressure points 1 around the eye socket 2 are illustrated in FIG. 1. An eye pillow draped across the face of a user fails to provide even pressure on the accupressure points around the eye socket. In fact, the accu-pressure points below the eyebrow and along the nose and inner eye are especially difficult to access because for most people, the eye socket is most recessed at those locations. Thus, a flat pillow design simply cannot rest on the user's forehead and nose while still applying even pressure to these hard to access accu-pressure points.
Shaped masks have been developed to block out light and some provide pressure in and around the eye. Such masks have been made out of foam, or even filled with a liquid gel that can be heated or cooled before use. These masks are shaped to fit around the nose to better access the eye socket. However, the problem with these shaped masks is that they still cannot provide sufficiently even pressure to all accu-pressure points around and on the eye for most users. The shape, size and depth of eye sockets, and the spacing between eye sockets, varies widely among different users. A generic shaped mask simply cannot reliably apply the desired evenly applied pressure to all the accu-pressure points for various users.
It is also desirable either during use, or from use to use, to vary the pressure distribution applied in the eye socket by the mask. However, shaped masks in general have a fixed shape that does not allow sufficient variations of pressure distributions by the user.
Eye pillows and shaped masks are often used by therapists during face massage and other body work to relax the patient. However, the therapists need to access the rest of the patient's face, when doing a facial massage, as well as move the patient during non-facial therapy. Sometimes the therapist needs to access the eye socket itself. Conventional eye pillows and masks block access to the patient's face, and tend to fall off or shift when the patient is moved. Therapists are forced to remove the pillows and masks in order to provide a comprehensive therapy session, which diminishes the relaxation effects of the treatment and can cause distress due to the rapid change of state. Straps used to hold the pillows and masks in place tend to uncomfortably exert pressure from the cheek bones all the way to the back of the head, including the temple area, further blocking a therapists' access to the patient's face and head areas. Tight head straps necessary to hold such pillows in place tend to be uncomfortable and hold the pillow too tightly onto the user's face.
There is a need for a eye pillow that evenly applies pressure on the accu-pressure points around the eye, and applies adjustable pressure on the eye itself, despite the different eye socket shapes and separations among various users. There is also a need for such an eye pillow to accommodate variations in the pressure distribution around the socket during use, to not exert pressure onto other parts of the user's head, to not block access to the user's face, to not require tight head straps to stay in place, and to provide multifaceted and interchangeable use for various therapeutic uses.